Northport police chief finalists named

NORTHPORT | The Northport City Council plans to interview four finalists for the position of police chief on Tuesday. All four candidates are members of the Northport Police Department.

By Lydia Seabol AvantStaff Writer

NORTHPORT | The Northport City Council plans to interview four finalists for the position of police chief on Tuesday. All four candidates are members of the Northport Police Department.The candidates include Capt. Kevin Leib, who has worked in the department since 1983; Lt. James Carpenter, who joined the department in 1997; Lt. Tommy Kimbrell, who has been with the department since 1995; and interim chief Kerry Card, who has been with Northport Police since 1990. The council will start interviewing the candidates at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Northport City Hall.The council had initially planned on posting the position regionally and interviewing candidates from within the department and outside of West Alabama. But in January, Mayor Bobby Herndon asked the council to keep the search within the ranks of the Northport Police Department. “I’ve been contacted by several people who said they would like to see the chief hired from within the department — from within the ranks,” Herndon said at the time, pointing to what he described as improved morale within the department since former Northport Police Chief Robert Green left in July. If the council decides not to hire one of the four internal candidates, it can expand its search. That recommendation was made in a study of the Northport Police Department done for the city last year by Colorado-based CWH Research. CWH Research said it would assist the city in a regional search, but it would cost the city $46,000. “It’s the pleasure of the council, up to you what you want to do,” City Administrator Scott Collins told the Council on Feb. 18.One benefit of interviewing internally first is that the city knows each candidate well, Collins said.“I think that is one thing with internal candidates ... we know the candidates and their history,” he said. “We know those employees as an institution, and can offer some insight there.”If the council ultimately decides to interview outside the department, Collins urged the council members to hire CWH or some other hiring firm to assist with the process. It was something that Northport should have done before the council hired former Police Chief Robert Green, said Collins, who was a councilman when Green was hired. CWH, which has worked with the Tuscaloosa and University of Alabama police departments, was hired by Northport last year to do an audit of the police department. The audit found that Green used coercion, threats and punishment as “power tools of intimidation” to run the department. CWH’s recommended that Green be fired and that the city conduct a nationwide search for his replacement. Green was put on administrative leave before the audit. He officially retired on July 1, just before CWH’s recommendations were made public. “I like the opportunity to look in house, and then go from there,” said Council President Jay Logan.Interim chief Card is making Green’s former salary of $83,000 annually. But the city could increase the salary to the $90,000 range for the right candidate, Collins said. The person who is chosen for the position needs to have a clear understanding of the need to do an overhaul, including improvement of employee morale and communication, improvement of officer training and the creation of an environment in which officers can move up within the department ranks during their career, Collins said. During the public interviews, candidates will be asked a list of questions compiled by council members and the mayor. The interviews are expected to last about 45 minutes per candidate.